Civic Participation

According to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center, a mere 13% of the total Latino population voted in the 2006 mid-term elections. Comparatively speaking, 39% of all whites, and 27% of all blacks voted. While the numbers were slightly better for the 2008 elections, the majority of U.S. Latinos are still left unaccounted for on the political blueprint of our nation. This lack of institutional participation is particularly troublesome given the tremendous recent numerical growth of the U.S. Hispanic population in recent years.

Our response
Many Hispanics do not realize they are part of a community that is truly a significant political, economic, and cultural force in the United States. We seek to increase awareness among Hispanics of their role and strengthen the perception of society at-large of Hispanics as key contributors to the cultural, economical and political well-being of our nation by disseminating positive stories about Hispanic contributions through mainstream media.

We work with our media partner Hispanic Communications Network on the Epicentro Spanish-language public affairs program that covers politics and public life from a Latino perspective. Epicentro offers nonpartisan, educational news and political analysis for national broadcast on public radio, commercial radio, and digital web platforms. Epicentro and all of our efforts in the civic arena encourage our community members to actively participate in addressing the issues that affect us most. That includes registering to become citizens, registering to vote, and fully taking part in civics at the municipal, state, and federal levels regarding issues of public importance. Acceso Hispano is an apolitical project of the Self Reliance Foundation, and carries no explicit or implicit party affiliation.

The Issues

Changing voter demographics
In March of 2003, roughly 40% of the U.S. Hispanic population (15.7 million people) were eligible voters. In contrast, 73% of the total non-Hispanic population was eligible to vote. Nonetheless, the Hispanic electorate is growing much faster than the non-Hispanic electorate—the rate of increase of eligible voters among Latinos is about six times faster than for the non-Hispanic population. Every year since the 2000 elections an average of 425,000 native-born Latinos has turned 18 years old and become eligible to vote. Nearly eight out of every ten (78%) new Latino eligible voters since the last presidential election is a native-born U.S. citizen who has become old enough to vote as opposed to an immigrant who has become a citizen through naturalization.

The growing Hispanic population in the United States is poised to play a critical role in the elections of the coming decades. In California, Latinos made up 30% of all Democratic primary voters in February 2008, in contrast to only 16% of voters in 2004. Almost 25% of eligible voters in Texas are Latinos, and in New Mexico 38% of eligible voters are Latino.

Growing discontent and discrimination
Half (50%) of all Latinos say that the situation of Latinos in this country is worse now than it was a year ago, according to a new nationwide survey of 2,015 Hispanic adults conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center. This pessimism is especially prevalent among immigrants, who account for 54% of all Hispanic adults in the United States. Fully 63% of these Latino immigrants say that the situation of Latinos has worsened over the past year. In 2007, only 42% of all adult Hispanic immigrants—and just 33% of all Hispanic adults—said the same thing.

These comments come at a time when the Hispanic community in this country has been hit hard by rising unemployment and increased immigration enforcement. In the survey, nearly one-in-ten Hispanic adults (8% of native-born U.S. citizens and 10% of immigrants) report that in the past year the police or other authorities have stopped them and asked them about their immigration status. Indeed, more than 1,500 bills and resolutions related to immigrants and immigration were introduced in the 50 state legislatures in 2007, almost triple the number of bills introduced and enacted in 2006. The measures cover a wide range of policy areas, including health, education, employment, law enforcement, legal services, drivers’ licenses and public benefits. Most seek to step up enforcement against, or deny benefits to undocumented immigrants.

Some Latinos are also experiencing difficulties because of their ethnicity. Among the Hispanic adults interviewed, 15% reported having had trouble in the past year finding or keeping a job because they are Latino. Ten percent reported the same about finding or keeping housing.